Dave Cullen spent ten years on Columbine. An expanded edition was released in 2016. His upcoming book is about gay soldiers.

Dave has contributed to New York Times, Vanity Fair, BuzzFeed, New Republic, Guardian, Newsweek, Times of London, Washington Post, The Daily Beast, Slate, Salon, Lapham's Quarterly, NPR's On The Media and The Millions. Bio.Contact.Book an event.

"What's amazing is how much of Cullen's book still comes as a surprise. . . . [His] nuanced dissection of the differences between Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold is first-rate."
— New York Times Book Review

Thanks to all the teachers, profs and students who contributed to this Columbine Instructor/Teacher's Guide. Keep suggestions coming.

And thanks for teaching our kids.

Discussion Questions: Victims & Survivors

Victims & Survivors

Who were the most memorable characters? As the chapters alternated between killers and survivors, which did you find more compelling?

Which, if any, of the book's characters do you consider heroes? Did any of them inspire you to act differently, or give you a new perspective?

Other than the killers, did you consider any characters villains? What made them behave that way?

Do any of the characters change or evolve through the course of the story? Do they change their view of the world and their relationship to it? If so, what events trigger such changes?

How would you respond if you turned on your TV today and your brother or son was named as a killer? What if it were a close friend? How did the lives of the killers’ families and friends change?

The afterward profiles three survivors, who employed wildly different coping strategies the first ten years. Is any one of them “right”? Think about someone in your life who has experienced grief. Did they respond like any of these three? Do you understand their behavior better now?